By Kendall Beck
Friday night football has made its full return to Dillsburg after having a two year hiatus from the pandemic. Northern Nation has showed up and showed out at all of the football games so far this season. As Mr. Lehman says, Northern is trying to bring back the fun. Northern Nation has certainly followed up to that.
Flashing back to August, the Northern Football team had a busy month. Starting off the season, Senior players Talon Belluscio, Nathan Deller, and Joel McClintock visited ABC 27 Sports Media Day to talk about the upcoming season on August 2nd. The following day, Senior players Timmy Bonin, Sam Gunning, and Mason Yohn went and represented Northern well at the Mid-Penn Football Media Day. In August, the Polar Bears also traveled to Middletown for a scrimmage.
Penn Live reported the Mid-Penn Colonial Division Previews on August 25th. The Polar Bears are predicted to place 2nd in the conference along with recognizing many key returning players for the Polar Bears. These players include Cole Bartram, Timmy Bonin, Talon Belluscio, Joel McClintock, Glenn Sadler, Spencer Siegel, Wyatt Hazen, Sam Gunning, Nate Anderson, and Mason Yohn.
The team came out with a bang, starting off the season at Bostic Field on August 26th against neighboring school, Red Land. The Polar Bears destroyed the Patriots 45-6. For his great work during this game, quarterback Timmy Bonin was nominated for both Penn Live Pennsylvania Football Week 1 Player of the Week and Penn Live Mid-Penn Football Week 1 Player of the Week. He was not voted as either, but the fans at Northern are very proud of his accomplishments. He was also voted the SBLive Pennsylvania High School Athlete of the Week. On Week 2, the Polar Bears hosted the Chambersburg Trojans on September 2nd and unfortunately lost 16-23 in hard fought game.
On Week 3 of play, Northern traveled the short distance to Dover for an exciting game. With 1:02 left in the 1st Quarter, Cole Bartram ran the ball in for a two yard touchdown. Mason Yohn made the extra point to bring the score to 7-0 through the 1st quarter. About half way through the 2nd quarter, Dover's quarterback Aric Campbell ran the ball for 10 yards and a touchdown for the eagles. The kick for the extra point failed to bring the score to 7-6. Northern's Austin Miller had an awesome interception meant for Dover's Phillip Ford. The score remained 7-6 with Northern ahead going into halftime. With 5:57 left in the 3rd quarter, Dover completed a pass to their own Zach Townsend and completed their 2 point conversion with Landon Shue running the ball in. Following shortly after, Northern's Talon Belluscio ran 68 yards while pushing off two defenders to score a Polar Bear touchdown. Mason Yohn yet again scored the extra point, taking the score to 14-14. With only 8 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter, Dover scored a 30 yard touchdown and tacked on the extra point, taking the score to 14-21 going out of the 3rd. The 4th quarter was a wild one starting off with a Polar Bear touchdown with a run from Timmy Bonin. Mason Yohn tacks on the extra point, taking the score back to a tied score of 21-21. On the 4th down, Northern took a chance at advancing the ball and they succeeded. Timmy Bonin threw a pass to Kyle Lamb for an exciting first down. Keeping the action up, Timmy Bonin threw a pass to Glenn Sadler for a 36 yard run. Northern took the score to 28-21 with 4:03 left with a 14 yard run from Cole Bartram. Mason Yohn made the extra point. Mason Yohn keeps up the action on defense when he chased Dover's Thomas Smyser for 92 yards before tackling him at the 2 yard line. The game deciding play unfortunately was not made by the Polar Bears, but despite Mason Yohn's effort, Dover scored a 2 yard touchdown run and completed a two point conversion again to take the score to 28-29. Final score was Dover 29, Northern 28.
On Week 4, the Polar Bears were coming off of two loses and returned back to Bostic Field. At Bostic, the Polar Bears welcomed our youth teams for a fun night. The boys came out and dominated. The game started off with visiting Greyhounds scoring with 9:16 left in the first quarter. The two point conversion was blocked taking the score to 0-6. Shortly after, Shippensburg's Troy Chamberlin was sacked by Northern's Glenn Sadler. Later in the 1st quarter, Northern's Mason Yohn made an interception. Not much happened in the 2nd quarter, but Joel McClintock went out and sacked Shippensburg's Tucker Chamberlin. Similar to the Week 3 game against Dover, Austin Miller had an awesome interception leading Northern into halftime down 0-6. After halftime, with 4:02 left in 3rd quarter, Timmy Bonin passed to Nate Anderson for a 25 yard touchdown pass. Mason Yohn made the extra point taking the score to 7-6 Northern. Shortly after, Wyatt Hazen sacked Tucker Chamberlin. With 3:43 left in the 4th quarter, Cole Bartram had a 95 yard run to be taken down at the 98 yard line and barreled in for the 2 yard run for a Polar Bear touchdown. Mason Yohn yet again made the extra point, taking the score to 14-6. Ending out the game, Mason Yohn kicked a 22 yard field goal, giving us the ending score of Northern 17, Shippensburg 6. The Polar Bears went against the odds of the weekly predictions and beat the Greyhounds for one of the most important wins of the season.
Cole Bartram contributed 151 yards and 25 carries during the game. This earned him to be nominated for Penn Live Mid-Penn Football Player of the Week, Penn Live Pennsylvania Football Player of the Week, and 4th Down Magazine Football Player of the Week. Although he was not voted in for any of these positions, Northern Nation is proud to have him recognized for his efforts during Week 4.
During Week 5, the Polar Bears travelled to Waynesboro to face the Indians on a Saturday afternoon. They came out on a high from their win against Shippensburg last week. The game started off with a 26 yard field goal from Mason Yohn to put the bears ahead, 3-0 with 6:44 left in the 1st Quarter. A few short minutes later, the Indians had a fumble and the Polar Bears recovered. With 4:04 left in the 1st Quarter, Talon Belluscio had a 9 yard touchdown run. Mason Yohn tacked on the extra point taking the score to 10-0. The 2nd quarter remains scoreless and the Bears lead 10-0 going into halftime. After halftime, the Bears came back out onto the field and had a fumble late into the 3rd quarter. The Indians recovered and kicked a field goal taking the score to 10-3. With 10:45 left in the 4th quarter, the Indians score a touchdown and take the score to a tie. The end of the game occurred with seconds left when the Indians score a field goal taking the score to 13-10. Final score, Polar Bears 10, Indians 13.
The season is off to a great start for the Polar Bears moving into October with a 2-3 season record. They are currently ranked 2nd in the Mid-Penn Colonial Division. They are set to face the Blue Devils from Greencastle on September 30th and the Warriors from Gettysburg on October 21st at Bostic Field. They are set to travel to the Panthers from East Pennsboro on October 7th, the Indians from Susquehanna Township on October 14th, and the Wildcats of Mechanicsburg on October 28th. Come out to support your Polar Bears!
The Football team huddles up in between plays during their win against
Shippensburg .
Northern football players and cheerleaders line up to sing the Alma Mater at the end of
the game.
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